Reigning Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat will spearhead four-member Indian challenge at the Budapest Wrestling Ranking Series which starts on Thursday.
For Vinesh, who hit the headlines for leading an agitation against the erstwhile chief of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Singh for over five months, this will her first International competition after winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games last year
The Budapest meet, also known as the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial wrestling tournament, is the year’s fourth and final ranking series. The Budapest Ranking Series will conclude on July 16. Wrestlers who compete in ranking series events earn vital ranking points that help determine their seedings at major competitions like the world championships.
This year’s World Wrestling Championships, to be held in Belgrade, Serbia from September 16 to 24, is a qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Vinesh Phogat, a two-time world championships bronze medalist, will compete in the 11-member 55kg bracket. USA’s Jacarra Gwenisha Winchester, a 2019 world champion and reigning U23 Asian champion Li Deng of China will be among the top wrestlers competing in the women’s 55kg division .
Apart from Vinesh Phogat, world championships bronze medalist Sarita Mor (women’s 59kg), Sujeet (men’s 65kg) and Greco-Roman wrestler Sunil Kumar (87kg) will be the other three Indian wrestlers competing in Budapest.
This year, Indian wrestlers have won two bronze medals each in the Zagreb and Ibrahim Moustafa ranking series tournaments. At the Bishkek ranking series, India won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.